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(CNN)"The leaves of the tree may touch the sky, but it should not forget that its roots are fixed in the soil."

Chief Hyppolite Anoh, artistic director of SOTHECA is full of wise words. It's also his job to anchor a nation to its cultural roots. SOTHECA, a village just outside of Ivory Coast's economic capital Abidjan, stands for Solidarity Theatre Club of Abidjan. The village has become a hub where traditional art, dance, songs and rhythms are being preserved.

"We noticed there was a problem," says Anoh, "Ivorian rhythms are disappearing." So Anoh and others decided to boost Ivorian traditions by re-familiarizing the youth with what could so easily be forgotten.

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Central to these traditions -- and among the most popular with audiences, domestic and foreign -- is the Zaouli mask dance. It's a phenomenon which has crossed borders and astonished crowds in Burkina Faso at Festima, the International Festival of Masks and the Arts.

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Photos:The masked men of Burkina Faso

Photos:The masked men of Burkina Faso

Every other year, thousands of people converge on Dedougou in Burkina Faso to celebrate traditional mask culture. The group organizing the event, called Festima, claim that 100,000 people come to watch over 500 masked men from Burkina Faso, Benin, Togo, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Mali perform across the week-long celebration.

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Photos:The masked men of Burkina Faso

Audiences are able to see performers in Dogon masks from Mali take to the floor at Dedougou's stadium. Masks such as the kanaga and santimbe (center) are intended to ensure the passage of the dead into the realm of the ancestors, whilst the sirige (right) has been argued to symbolize a multistory house.

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Photos:The masked men of Burkina Faso

Anthropologist Laurence Douny says that "Festima is a good way for the organizers to make sure younger generations actually know what the masks are all about. There's a lot of masks in Burkina, but they tend to disappear in some areas because of religion."

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Photos:The masked men of Burkina Faso

Festima, entering its 20th year, is as much about passing on traditional culture and raising awareness. Douny admits that the private nature of many masquerades prevents them from being performed in public spaces. Therefore Festima organizes panel discussions and seminars with the intention to create an infrastructure for the preservation and continuation of these traditions.

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Photos:The masked men of Burkina Faso

Among the most striking costumes on show are the masks of the Dafing (Marka) people of Burkina Faso. Covered head to toe in leaves ("koro") and featuring a crest made from thick dried grass, some believe the masks enhance fertility.

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Photos:The masked men of Burkina Faso

Throughout the course of the festival revelers can see performers around the clock, from early morning through to the early hours, when specialist night masks are brought out for show.

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Photos:The masked men of Burkina Faso

The Zangbeto mask, brought to Festima from Benin, is part of Yoruba culture and also features in Togo. Zangbeto are voodoo guardians of the night, and while those inside the colored straw outfit keep their identities secret, Yoruba legend states that no one lies underneath the costume except the spirits of the night. Its spinning dance signifies the spiritual cleansing of the village.

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Photos:The masked men of Burkina Faso

Douny says that masks are charged with magic on ceremonial occasions, and during that time there is a strict ban on photography for any outsiders lucky enough to be in attendance. The anthropologist says that at Festima many masks are not employed in their original context. "It's aesthetic, the physical mask itself," says Douny, "whereas the tradition of masquerade is more about communication between the visible and the invisible."

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Photos:The masked men of Burkina Faso

Bwa performers in antelope masks bask in the heat. The Bwa from northeast Burkina Faso retain animist traditions, and mask wearers can fall into a trance-like state when invoking spirits.

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Photos:The masked men of Burkina Faso

Zaouli performers from the Ivory Coast are known from their incredibly fast footwork, kicking up a cloud of dust as they pound the earth to fast rhythmic music.

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Donning a Zaouli mask has a profound effect on its wearer. The process is taken seriously and filming it is prohibited. Only the initiated are permitted to bear witness -- and women are strictly forbidden.

"The bearer changes," Anoh explains, "the spirits take control of him. He is separated from all that happens around him... Once he will put the mask on, it will not be him again that will be dancing, but the spirit that will possess his body."

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In Ivory Coast, people consulted masks when danger was coming, the chief explains. Some masks protect villages, some counter bad spalls; others are used to rejoice.

Each Zaouli mask can take as long as six days to carve. Made of Yaranza wood, the process is secretive, each artisan using their own approach. Ouagene Coulibaly, president of the Association of the Village Artisans of Bassam, will show CNN his work in progress, but refuses to divulge how he finishes his unique and sacred works.